Legends 71.....The Green Goddess by debbielove

Photography • Military • posted on Mar 25, 2015

Open full image in new tab Zoom on image

Hover over top left image to zoom.
Click anywhere to exit.

Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.

Description

Greetings Folks, This was the name applied affectionately to these long lived engines.. Their actual name was the Bedford RLHZ Self Propelled Pump Engine.. She was a fire engine used originally by the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS), and latterly held in reserve by the Home Office until 2004, and available when required to deal with exceptional events, including being operated by the British Armed Forces during fire-fighters’ strikes (1977 and 2002). These green-painted vehicles were built between 1953 and 1956 for the AFS. The design was based on a Bedford RL series British military truck. Legendary in their slowness, but extremely reliable they lasted years and were last wheeled out in 2002 on a mass scale.. In March 2004, the Government announced that it was conducting a test sale of forty of its remaining fleet of more than nine hundred vehicles, and that it was planning to dispose of the remainder. The sale of the fleet was completed, and most of the vehicles were sold to fire brigades in developing countries, mostly in Africa. If you want to see a fine condition one such as this you'd have to search hard.. This was taken at RAF Cosford, in the Cold War Hanger, in the Cafe!!!! Well, of course! If you'd like more engines of a certain age, please ask, I have some.. Enjoy Rob

Comments (10)

)

Maxidyne

11:16AM | Wed, 25 March 2015

Fantastic post Rob. Always great to see the vehicles you capture. I remember seeing these on the streets back then in the days when everyone was going on strike at some point. The garage I worked at when I left school had an RL as a breakdown truck and the was an old non-running Bedford 'O' series in the corner of the yard. Happy days :-)

)

jayfar

11:33AM | Wed, 25 March 2015

Brings back many memories. When I joined, the Fire Service in 1965, Somerset still had the AFS and one of these was garaged in our station in Chard. If the main appliance (fire engine) wouldn't start for any reason we used to use it. Thanks for posting Rob.

)

neiwil

2:06PM | Wed, 25 March 2015

Scary...I remember the strike....the '77' one and I remember these well. Of course I remember this one at Cosford...makes sense it being in the Cafe...the waitress looked like she'd burn jelly :-)

)

Buffalo1

3:41PM | Wed, 25 March 2015

Nothin' like a machine that is useful and lives well past the age anyone would expect, and to think they are still on the job!

)

Faemike55

10:11PM | Wed, 25 March 2015

Very cool and interesting

)

blinkings

11:26PM | Wed, 25 March 2015

I've just polished my car to within an inch of it's life, but I think the shine on this old gal still beats me!

)

giulband

12:43AM | Thu, 26 March 2015

Good shot !

)

goodoleboy

11:16PM | Thu, 26 March 2015

Wow, olive green all the way around with this fire engine, Rob. So, what in particular propels this Self Propelled Pump Engine? It looks nothing like our American fire engines.

)